Experience gained with the application of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/20142 has shown that certain provisions relating to checks, notifications and annual reporting need to be clarified and simplified.

Articles 2, 3 and 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 lay down the provisions for the import licences, exemption certificates, aid certificates and payment relating to products imported from third countries or supplied from the Union. Article 4(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/12393 makes the use of the Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (‘EORI number’) mandatory for import licences. It is appropriate to provide the same requirement for the import licences, exemption certificates and aid certificates covered by Articles 2, 3 and 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 respectively.

Article 8 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 contains the rules on the documents to be presented by operators and the validity of licences and certificates. It is appropriate to ease the electronic transmission of the accompanying documents of the licences and certificates.

Article 16 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 lays down the rules for the administrative and physical checks on the import, entry, export and dispatch of agricultural products. It is appropriate to separate the type of physical checks for import and entry from the type of physical checks for export and dispatch. The wording of that Article should make explicit the obligation of applying a representative sample when performing checks on export and dispatch operations provided for in Section 5 of that Regulation.

Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 provides the general principles for the checks in respect of aid applications for the measures to support local agricultural products. Taking into account the heterogeneity and different level of complexity of actions within the measures and to further ensure that all areas of expenditure are covered and represented in the sampling, it is necessary to specify that the competent authorities are to perform on-the-spot checks at the level of each action by sampling at least 5 % of the aid applications. The sample should also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the aid for each action.

Article 24 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 provides the rules for the selection of aid applicants to be subject to on-the-spot checks. As in the outermost regions there might be a small number of applicants, Member States should have the possibility to select only one applicant.

Article 38(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 requires certain data relating to the specific supply arrangements balance to be notified at the end of each quarter of the year. That periodicity is burdensome and a notification only once per year is deemed sufficient.

Article 39 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 sets out the elements to be included in the annual reports on the implementation of the measures. In its report of 15 December 20164 the Commission concluded that the reporting on the implementation of the POSEI programmes should be improved, particularly to better assess compliance with the objectives, including for specific supply arrangements, and to better describe the situation of the agricultural sector and its development, including price monitoring and the competitive position of local production with regard to imports. As it is also opportune to clarify the reporting obligations and provide a new structure of the annual reports, the relevant details should be specified in a new Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014.

Article 40 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 sets out the procedures for amending the POSEI programmes. Taking into account the experience gained with its application, those procedures need to be simplified in order to ensure a more flexible and smoother adaptation to the actual conditions relating to the supply arrangements and the local agricultural conditions. Therefore, it is appropriate to require that amendments covered by Article 40(1) and (2) of that Regulation be presented at the same time by 31 July.

In general, amendments to POSEI programmes do not need formal approval by the Commission. It is appropriate to revise the wording of Article 40(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 in order to express that principle in a more explicit way.

However, ‘major’ amendments to the programmes covered by Article 40(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 do need formal approval by the Commission. On the basis of the experience with that procedure, it is necessary to extend the deadline for approval to five months after the notification of the amendment. In addition, in order to simplify the procedure, the formal approval by the Commission should be limited to the first two cases currently covered by that provision.

Article 40(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 concerns ‘minor’ amendments. To ease the financial adjustment procedure within the Member States, the deadline for the notification of adjustments up to 20 % of the financial allocation should be extended to 31 May.

Finally, the definition of ‘measure’ in Article 40(5)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 should be simplified.

Several Commission regulations have been repealed and replaced by delegated and implementing regulations. For reasons of clarity and legal certainty, it is appropriate to update the references to those regulations. In particular, as regards the system of import and export licences, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/20085 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/12376 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239.

As regards the notifications to the Commission, references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/20097 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/11838 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/11859.

As regards the rules based on Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council10 references to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1122/200911 should be replaced by references to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/201412 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/201413.

As regards provisions relating to the Union Customs Code, references to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/9314 should be replaced by references to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council15 to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/244616 or to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/244717.

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Direct Payments,